the little stories that fill you up

Three two-letter words to play in one great game

Since playing Scrabble online and becoming familiar with the 100 or so two-letter words, I thought it would be fun to research some of their meanings. Here are a few of the more interesting finds.

Ai, pronounced ah-ee, is a two-letter word for a three-toed sloth, according to The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, Third Edition.

Karoly Lorentey of Budapest, Hungary, "lorentey" on Flickr, shared this picture, "Linne's two-toed sloth," which was taken March 26, 2011 in Terezvaro, Budapest, according to the site. Lorentey wrote in the caption, "The Harpy Eagle likes to hunt these guys by snatching them from tree branches and flying them to its nest."

Sloths are slow-moving mammals with long, hook-like claws by which they hang upside down from tree branches, according to The American Heritage Dictionary Of The English Language, Third Edition. They eat leaves, buds and fruits, and live in Central and South America.

Ai refers to the three-toed sloth, not to be confused with unau, the two-toed sloth. Also, not to be confused with another two-letter word worth celebrating – op.

Op is a style of abstract art, according to The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, Third Edition.

Op art, an abbreviation of Optical art, is a type of abstract art that exploits certain optical phenomena to cause a work to seem to vibrate, pulsate, or flicker, according to The Oxford Dictionary of Art.

This photo by Augusto Cesar Costa, "accosta" on Flickr, has a caption, "ceci ausi nes't pas une lampe," which as near as I can tell translates to, "This also is not a lamp." Well said.